ROBERTO MARTINEZ has told Aaron Lennon to keep pushing to earn a permanent move to Everton after his second goal for the club.

The on-loan Tottenham Hotspur midfielder produced a calm finish for Martinez’s side in this draw.

It was the first time in his career he has scored in consecutive away matches, having grabbed the winner in their 2-1 victory over QPR at the end of March.

Lennon’s future is still unclear but Spurs are believed to be willing to let the 27-year-old leave at the end of the season for £6m.

“All we want for Aaron is to carry on pushing, enjoying his football, keeping his place and making sure he enjoys his time with Everton,” said Martinez. “The impressive thing about Aaron is he does not look like a loan player, he looks like he has been playing for Everton for many, many years and that is a very important sign.”

Lennon’s first-half strike had given Everton the lead but they were denied all three points by a Jonjo Shelvey penalty 20 minutes from the end.

It brought to an end a three-game winning run in the league for the Toffees, which has seen them move away from the relegation places after flirting with the bottom four in recent months.

Martinez was again quick to point out the toll of their Europa League campaign as a reason behind their struggles this season but that was not a view shared by his goalkeeper Tim Howard.

“The Europa League is something that’s been talked about for years but it’s just a blanket statement people make,” said Howard.

“Champions League teams have to do the same thing. They play Wednesday and Saturday and it’s tough, but no-one blames Champions League football.

“No team have a god-given right to be anywhere. Our results have not been right, we’ve put in honest performances but things just haven’t gone our way.”

Swansea moved to 47 points with the draw, equalling the club’s Premier League record set under Brendan Rodgers in 2011/12.

They could break the record at Leicester next weekend and are still chasing an eighth place top flight finish.

“Anything less than eighth would probably be a disappointment,” said Swansea captain Ashley Williams. “We don’t want to finish with a whimper, we want to finish strongly and in other seasons here we haven’t done that.

“For Swansea that will help start pre-season on a high, but for internationals we’d like to go into the summer in good form.”

Swansea’s only concern is the loss of striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who limped off in the first half with a hamstring injury.

Reuters

Aaron Lennon has impressed on loan at Everton

Back-up striker Nelson Oliveira, on loan from Benfica, is also unavailable through injury and it forced Swans boss Garry Monk to play with Gylfi Sigurdsson through the middle for most of the second half against the Toffees.

Monk said: “Up front is an area we will need to strengthen in the summer.”